Typing
Template for APA Papers: A Sample of Proper Formatting for APA Style

This is an electronic template for
papers written according to the style of the American Psychological Association
(APA, 2020) as outlined in the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The
purpose of the template is to help students set the margins and spacing. Margins
are set at 1 inch for top, bottom, left, and right. The text is left-justified
only; that means the left margin is straight, but the right margin is ragged. Each
paragraph is indented 0.5 inch. It is best to use the tab key to indent, or set
a first-line indent in the paragraph settings. The line spacing is double
throughout the paper, even on the reference page. One space is used after
punctuation at the end of sentences. The font style used in this template is
Times New Roman and the font size is 12 point. This font and size is required
for GCU papers.

The
Section Heading

The heading above would be used if
you want to have your paper divided into sections based on content. This is a
Level 1 heading, and it is centered and bolded, and the initial word and each
word of four or more letters is capitalized. The heading should be a short
descriptor of the section. Note that not all papers will have headings or
subheadings in them. Papers for beginning undergraduate courses (100 or 200
level) will generally not need headings beyond Level 1. The paper title serves
as the heading for the first paragraph of the paper, so “Introduction” is not
used as a heading.

Subsection
Heading

The subheading above would be used
if there are several sections within the topic labeled in a first level
heading. This is a Level 2 heading, and it is flush left and bolded, and the
initial word and each word of four or more letters is capitalized.

Subsection
Heading

APA dictates that you should avoid
having only one subsection heading and subsection within a section. In other
words, use at least two subheadings under a main heading, or do not use any at
all. Headings are used in order, so a paper must use Level 1 before using Level
2. Do not adjust spacing to change where on the page a heading falls, even if
it would be the last line on a page.

The
Title Page

When you are ready to write, and
after having read these instructions completely, you can delete these directions
and start typing. The formatting should stay the same. You will also need to
change the items on the title page. Fill in your own title, name, course,
college, instructor, and date. List the college to which the course belongs,
such as College of Theology, College of Business, or College of Humanities and
Social Sciences. GCU uses three letters and numbers with a hyphen for course
numbers, such as CWV-101 or UNV-104. The date should be written as Month Day,
Year. Spell out the month name.

Formatting
References and Citations

APA
Style includes rules for citing resources. The Publication Manual (APA, 2020) also discusses the desired tone of
writing, grammar, punctuation, formatting for numbers, and a variety of other
important topics. Although APA Style rules are used in this template, the
purpose of the template is only to demonstrate spacing and the general parts of
the paper. GCU has prepared an APA Style
Guide available in the Student Success Center and on the GCU Library’s Citing Sources in APA guide (https://libguides.gcu.edu/APA)
for help in correctly formatting according to APA Style.

The
reference list should appear at the end of a paper. It provides the information
necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body
of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference
list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text. A
sample reference page is included below. This page includes examples of how to
format different reference types. The first reference is to a webpage without a
clear date, which is common with organizational websites (American Nurses
Association, n.d.). Next is the Publication
Manual referred to throughout this template (APA, 2020). Notice that the
manual reference includes the DOI number, even though this is a print book, as
the DOI was listed on book, and does not include a publisher name since the
publisher is also the author. A journal article reference will also often
include a DOI, and as this article has four authors, only the first would
appear in the in-text citation (Copeland et al., 2013). Government publications
like the Treatment Improvement Protocol
series documents from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (2014) are
another common source found online. A book without a DOI is the last example
(Holland & Forrest, 2017).

References

American Nurses Association.
(n.d.). Scope of practice.
https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/scope-of-practice/

American Psychological
Association. (2020). Publication manual
of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment. (2014). Improving cultural
competence (HHS Publication No. 14-4849). U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK248428/

Copeland, T., Henderson, B.,
Mayer, B., & Nicholson, S. (2013). Three different paths for tabletop
gaming in school libraries. Library
Trends, 61(4), 825–835. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2013.0018

Holland, R. A., & Forrest,
B. K. (2017). Good arguments: Making your
case in writing and public speaking. Baker Academic.